STE@M

How can the tech sector marry today's feeling of optimism - and the private sector cash that is aligned with that growth - with the creation of both a societal and industry infrastructure that will enable technology-orientated people and businesses to flourish and grow?

One area of clear consensus was women can no longer just talk to other women about tech's gender imbalance. We need men to join the discussion to move it forward to action. And so to the next panel where a male voice did add to the debate.

It was clear that some of my colleagues pursued career in technology career for the love of it and because they could see that it will transform lives, even though their teachers and family may have actively discouraged them.

I recently searched Surrey for a secondary school that truly valued creativity for my own daughter. Both private and state, the answer was depressingly similar; "Oh yes, we do do ART here, but it's not a real degree is it?" one headmaster risked his life in telling me.

One could argue that students of these subjects have all the financial incentive they need. Popular perception says that they go into gold-plated careers while those in humanities become starving artists, unhappy teachers or McDonald's employees. This view is, of course, wrong.

Our national security and our future competitiveness and prosperity all depend on bringing more people into engineering at all levels. But we need rather different skills from the conventional ones engineering has sought in the past and this is widely understood...

The skills gap in UK science and engineering industries is now an accepted fact of life with companies reporting difficulties in current recruitment of skilled staff. However, an initiative called Industrial Cadets, supported by government and led by major manufacturers, offers the opportunity of engaging future recruits while still at school, thereby developing the future talent pipeline.

We want to show young people that maths and science can open up endless possibilities for their future - and for Britain's future too. Our plan for education will ensure that we equip every child with the skills and knowledge they will need to succeed - and our message is that maths and physics can get them there.

When I'm asked about the best piece of advice I would give to any woman seeking a career in the fields of science, technology, education and mathematics (STEM) - where government figures show that women hold just 15.5% of jobs - my first response is to pick a good mentor.

I am passionate about equality in the workplace. It is frustrating that many barriers still exist for young women graduating today. It is unfair for the talented women missing out on rewarding careers, and it is detrimental to the UK economy.

My daughter recently had to do a project for her science home work. She was making a board game that involved great scientists. Of course there was Einstein, Peter Higgs, Dmitri Mendeleev, Euclid, Joseph Black, Jan Van Helmont, Galileo, Schrödinger (and his cat)... Only the cat wasn't male. And that was because it was a theoretical cat.

If you were asked to draw a scientist, what would it look like? An image resembling Einstein, perhaps? Same question; but this time an engineer. Would you draw a man with a spanner? And would a computer scientist look like a guy who's keen on science fiction and junk food, working alone in a dark room?

The world needs its engineers. They build what the human mind conceptualizes, they create things that did not exist before, and they advance human civilization, sometimes in neat and tidy increments, and sometimes in quantum jumps that seem out of this world.

International Women's Day takes place this Saturday, and will be celebrated with events across the world. The theme this year? 'Inspire Change'. Taking that notion on board, this year at HuffPost we have decided to move the conversation on. While it's all too temping to go over the same old arguments - so many of them still far from resolved - it's also time to look to the future and celebrate those paving a way for the next generation.

UK businesses have it in them to adapt and grow in the better economic climate that we're now in, and those leading firms that embed innovation deeply in their DNA will soon find themselves leading the pack.

Our core principles are unchanged; to maintain authenticity in all we do, and to give girls access to the skills, opportunities, inspiring women and role models needed to make them believe that girls can do Science, Technology, Maths & Engineering too, then act on that belief.